Can Congress really lower gas prices?

WASHINGTON -- Will Congress do something to cut gas prices before you drive off to the beach this summer?

Not a chance, energy experts say.

The truth is that despite the flurry of bills being debated on Capitol Hill, Congress cannot control the global price of oil nor offer real help for beleaguered American drivers now or in the near future, analysts say. Many of the solutions lawmakers are proposing — from drilling in the Alaskan wilderness to boosting the use of renewable energy — would take years or even decades to have an impact.

"I wish I could say there was relief around the corner, but there isn't," said Robert Ebel, senior energy adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "Congress members don't want to tell you that, but that's the reality."

It's not that the politicians don't want to help. With their constituents screaming from pain at the pump, members of Congress facing re-election in November would like nothing better than to fix the problem and take credit for doing so, Ebel said.

But Congress has no power over the worldwide demand for oil, which is being fueled in large part by developing nations such as India and China with an insatiable hunger for energy, said Bob O'Brien, the online stocks editor at Barrons.com.

"China is undergoing this economic boom and is effectively willing to pay any price," O'Brien said. "Just by the nature of the market, the product is going to seek out the end user that is willing to pay the most. And that dynamic is not going to change anytime soon."

That hasn't stopped Congress from trying to find a quick fix.

In May, President Bush reluctantly signed bipartisan legislation that stops him from stockpiling oil in the nation's emergency reserve through the end of this year. Supporters of the bill said it would reduce gas prices by 5 cents to 25 cents a gallon by keeping 70,000 more barrels of oil a day on the market beginning July 1.

But energy analysts are skeptical.

"Increasing supply by 70,000 barrels a day when we consume 21 million barrels a day isn't going to have much effect," Ebel said. "I think it's largely a public relations effort."